shimmer

This is Casanova, our French Bulldog. He is 11 years old and suffering from intestinal cancer. He's been pretty OK since he was diagnosed this spring, but over the weekend he really took a turn for the worse. Hubby and I talked about having him put to sleep, but we wanted to have the rest of Sunday--our only day off together--with him.

Casanova (sometimes "Gas-anova" or "Kissy-nova") was a show dog in his younger days. He was a "finished champion," which meant he had won several shows, and his breeder was done showing him. She also decided not to breed him anymore, as his front legs were just slightly bowed and she didn't want to propagate that quality in her line anymore. Anyway, when he was about 3 years old, his breeder placed him with us. He was actually supposed to stud out one more time, but that never wound up happening. Too bad; we would have loved to have one of his puppies. But Frenchie's have very small litters and are very expensive, so maybe that wouldn't have worked out anyway.

When we met Casanova, he ran to us and jumped up on our laps, and started kissing Hubby and I all over our faces. He was so sweet! The breeder told us some stuff about him (that he gets excited and nips people sometimes; that he would eat anything we would give him, so be careful he doesn't get fat; that sort of thing). We took him on home, and I don't think he ever looked back.

After a week with Casanova, I would say to Hubby, "How did we ever live without one of these? I want a dozen just like him!" He is simply the most loving and joyful dog I have ever known. In eight years, I have never seen him angry. He loves everyone, but especially Hubby and I (in that order). He sits and just gazes at us sometimes. When he first came to live with us, he slept with us, and he loved it if we would both cuddle him in between us. If we started kissing and hugging, he would bark at us to let him in, too! He especially likes to cuddle up real close and gently nibble our earlobes, or the tips of our noses. He is very funny and charming.

It all seems like just yesterday, but of course it's been about 8 years.

We have an appointment to take him to the vet this evening. I will really miss him.

And I sincerely hope we're done dealing with death for a while. In one year's time, we've lost two cats, two dogs (yes, counting Cass), two friends (and one in the year prior), and a parent (Hubby's mother). At this moment, no one else we know is terminally ill or particularly aged, so maybe we can get on with LIFE for a while.

Posted by Jean on Monday, July 03, 2006 at 1:59 PM | Permalink